NEWTON, Mass. — Hundreds gathered in Newton Sunday, closing down Homer Street, to rededicate a memorial to the hostages taken by Hamas exactly six months ago.
“These are innocent civilians who have been captive for 6 months and to have those defaced was incredibly scarring,” said Marc Baker, president and CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
Jeff Kosowsky had put up more than 100 photos of those hostages in his front yard following the attacks on October 7th. Then a few weeks ago, he found every single picture vandalized – spray painted or torn down.
“Frankly, there were a number of Muslim ones as well as Jewish as well as Christian as well as Buddhist, there were Americans, Israelis, Thai, Bangladesh, Argentinian, obviously there were more Israelis given it happened in Israel, but it was not a political statement at all,” said Kosowsky.
On Sunday the community came together to put up new pictures of those hostages who are still missing.
Children helped unveil the new memorial as neighbors, city, and state leaders all came together for the rededication.
“Acts of hate even if they start as solitary, anonymous actions, don’t end there, they can metastasize so it’s critical even with isolated acts of hate that the community come together,” said Rep. Jake Auchincloss.
Newton police say this is one of several antisemitic incidents in the area recently that they’re still investigating.
Another was when someone threw a rock into a home that had a “Stand with Israel” sign.
“We need to come together proud as every other group that’s been mistreated,” said Kosowsky. “We’re here for liberty, for freedom, our freedom to assemble, freedom to speak, and our freedom of our religion.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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